"It's changeable at the moment with showers but moving away from the west to the east. We're expecting some high pressure to move into the south of the country and brighter weather to prevail.

"It will just be a short interlude of better weather and then back to the typical British summer."

The forecast prompted West Midlands Police to issue security advice to households after the last spell of warm weather led to a rise in burglaries with a fifth of break-ins committed by opportunists.

Chief Inspector Darren Walsh said: "There is a temptation to leave windows and doors open during spells of hot weather. But there are opportunist thieves who'll look to take advantage of home security lapses and they only need a matter of seconds to sneak in through open windows or doors."

After the weekend, the rain returning to the UK is likely to be heavy and thundery bringing humid conditions early next week.

But the Olympics closing ceremony, which will handover to the next host city Rio de Janeiro, could avoid a downpour.

Leon Brown, meteorologist at the Weather Channel, said: "There is a 30 per cent chance of temperatures reaching 82F (28C) in the capital and we expect a fine evening in London with just a 20 per cent chance of a shower for the Olympic closing ceremony."

He added central and northern parts of England were at risk of flash floods from heavy showers on Sunday.